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Sometimes when I ride my bike, I enjoy all the scenery and embrace the wonderful weather that propels me along as part of the rhythm of riding, taking me into a zone that insulates me from the stresses of life. At other times, I have no choice but to embrace the pain and exhaustion of…

As the sun rises across the desert and brushes its orange breath across our cold faces, we mount our bikes and teeter our way through the loose dirt and gravel outside the Las Vegas Speedway, heading for our once-around the race track. It’s November 7, 2009. The air is dead still. More than 200 riders…

I look down the bike path to make sure it’s clear, clip my right shoe onto the pedal, crank it forward, clip the left in and ease into the bike lane. Taking a deep breath, I guide my bike past a water pipe cover while I move to the sweet spot on my saddle. My…

I stood in our kitchen crunching and gulping down chip after chip of Doritos, my arm and mouth working together like a mother bird and a baby chick. I could eat a whole bag of these things one at a time without stopping, but I had restraint! One whole bag at a time is just…

You’re shooting video of your family. All you have to do is aim the camera and keep it pointed at your kids, right? After all, it’s only your home movies. Why should you try to do more? Well if you don’t think you should do more, stop reading right now. For the rest of you,…

Find yourself obligated to shoot videos of your family again? Want a way to get out of it? Well, here are some things you can do that will make your videos so ugly, no one will want you to shoot video again. At Patchin Pictures, the video production and duplication company I founded in 1997,…

Are you satisfied with the quality of video you shoot of your family just because your family is in it? Most people take on the task of shooting video of their kids’ activities just because they should. But do you ever think about why you shoot video? Beyond the obvious answers of family obligation and…

Of course, you want to keep your pictures out of the fire. It should be a matter of concern for anyone who cares about his or her family pictures and home movies. You don’t expect to have a fire in your home, but it can happen anyway. We all have insurance to cover the loss…